


A Rose By Any Other Name

by TheDragonsLittleBird



Category: Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types, Little Witch Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, Background Relationships, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Blood, Character Death, Curses, F/F, Slow Burn, Witch Curses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 07:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13243413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragonsLittleBird/pseuds/TheDragonsLittleBird
Summary: “Very well, ms. Kagari” the beast’s politeness as it composes itself and assumes a more rigid, accusing stance and expression, surprises Akko, “care to explain what you are doing in my house in the middle of the night?”Diakko Beauty and the Beast AU.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure whether to post this, but decided to try it out anyway. Based on [this](https://honhonhonmaker.tumblr.com/post/168031225647/kay-guys-but-hear-me-out-a-diakko-beauty-and-the) Tumblr post I made a while back. Hope you guys like it. I'll be trying to update it at least once a week.
> 
> (Just to clarify, witches and magic are a thing in this AU, but Luna Nova's not. It's also not set in modern times unlike the anime.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Akko goes out during the night to find an abandoned castle and ends up finding more than she bargained for.

In her defense, Akko is curious.

Okay, so maybe going out to look for an abandoned castle in the forest in the middle of the night was a bad idea, but really, did Amanda have to say the library in the place was full of “super secret spell books?”

Imagine Akko’s suprise when she walks into the entry hall and finds out the castle is not only not abandoned – instead, it’s very well-kept – but inhabited by a three-meter tall, furry, horned monster.

To be fair, the beast looks as surprised as her to see her there; and doesn’t look like it wants to hurt her at all. Still, it looks on guard, and Akko is suddenly very aware that if this thing decides to get angry at her for invading its home it won’t be nice at all.

She wouldn’t be Akko if she didn’t press her luck.

“Um, hi?” she tries, raising her hand and giving the monster an awkward smile. It just furrows its brows at her.

“Who are you?” it asks, clearly not comfortable being stared at – _so if Akko could please control her eyes and stop staring this is incredibly rude_ – and Akko can’t help but notice the very fancy clothes it’s wearing, in particular the probably expensive cloak around its neck – is there some sort of monster royalty she’s not aware of?

She forces herself to snap back to the matter at hand and clears her throat before responding:

“I’m Atsuko Kagari!” she says it as energetically as ever, though she notices her voice wavering slightly this time – and she doesn’t blame herself, given the circumstances, “But you can call me Akko.”

“Very well, ms. Kagari” the beast’s politeness as it composes itself and assumes a more rigid, accusing stance and expression, surprises Akko, “care to explain what you are doing in my house in the middle of the night?”

Akko tries to ignore the fact that just because the beast is more polite and pleasant than more than half her village, doesn’t mean it’s against making her its dinner (and also tries not to let the fact that she’s talking to a three-meter tall monster get to her very much) and decides honesty is probably the best course of action here – the beast might be a mind reader or something.

“I’m sorry?” she offers. The monster looks utterly unconvinced as well as annoyed, so she ellaborates, “I didn’t know this was your house. I didn’t even know anyone lived out here. I heard this castle was abandoned, and there were some valuable spell books here” she stutters a little, “I didn’t mean to break into your house.”

The beast lets out an incredibly condescending little snort, and Akko decides it may not be as polite as it initially appeared.

“Well, there are no spell books here, so you can leave now” it barely finishes speaking before turning its back on her and starting to walk to the staircase at the end of the gigantic hall “and do not steal anything on your way out.”

Akko starts to turn around, thanking her luck for finding a civilized monster instead of a people-eating one, until she remembers somehing and stops.

“Um, actually” she spins back around, and the monster only slightly turns to look at her, “I might not actually know how to get back home.”

The beast stares at her with incredulous ice-blue eyes that look uncanilly human.

“What? How did you even find this place, then?” its voice is annoyed, but not altered in the least.

“Luck, actually,” Akko feels herself blush and stares at the floor, “I probably won’t be able to find my way back until morning.”

“You entered a forest full of dangerous wild animals in the middle of the night without a map or even a good sense of direction? To find books?”

“More or less, yeah.”

The beast only stares for a couple more seconds before sighing impatiently.

“Very well, you may stay here for the night if you so wish. But you’ll leave at dawn.”

“Thanks!” Akko breathes in relief, “I promise I won’t be any trouble.”

The monster stares at the floor almost embarassingly before raising its gaze to her once again.

“Are you hungry?”

The question surprises Akko, so she finds herself not responding at first.

The beast sighs again, brows furrowing in annoyance.

“I won’t poison you.”

The growl snaps Akko out of her trance.

“Oh, no, I know that! I’m just... you’re being really nice to me.”

Now there’s an actual scowl on the creature’s face.

“I won’t eat you either.”

“I know, I just... I wasn’t expecting someone like you to be so... polite.”

The beast looks almost hurt.

“I’m not a monster, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“No, that’s...! Never mind...” Akko is sure she’s the color of the red, ornate carpet decorating the floor and she rubs the back of her neck awkwardly, “I can sleep on the couch,” she offers out of politeness, since the creature is already doing so much for her, a complete stranger who invaded its home.

“Don’t be ridiculous, we have plenty of spare beds here” Akko is secretly thankful to hear she won’t have to actually sleep on the couch, although in all honesty the couch alone looks more comfortable than her bed at home, “You didn’t answer my question. Are you hungry?”

Akko decides not to press her luck any more than she already has.

“No, don’t worry!” as if on cue, her treacherous stomach decides to noisily protest and the beast raises a brow at her in response, “okay, maybe... maybe a little.”

“Follow me,” the beast turns around as abruptly as before, fully expecting Akko to follow, and she does without wasting any time.

She struggles to keep up with the beast’s pace as it leads her down a large corridor decorated on both sides by elaborate suits of armor, busts and tapestries. Finding the silence to be awkward, Akko clears her throat once more:

“So um, nice place you have here!”

The beast only gruffily hums in response.

“Do you live alone?”

“I have a servant, Anna.”

The beast’s replies are short and to the point, but Akko presses on, wanting to know more about the strange creature:

“A servant? So you’re some kind of noble, then?”

To Akko’s surprise, the beast looks incredibly sad for a fleeting moment.

“It’s... complicated,” it regains its composure in a second, “but you could say that, yes. In a way.”

Akko considers asking for a moment what kind of creature exactly the beast is, but deciding that would be incredibly rude, she settles for something else instead:

“I kinda figured you were a noble. Not just the castle, but the fancy clothes and cloak. Have you lived here long? I never heard of... someone living in the forest.”

“I don’t go out,” the beast states, bitterly, “it would scare people. And they don’t bother me. They’re all scared of the forest. Except for you, apparently.”

Akko grins brightly at that.

“My teacher always says that the way we’ll stop fearing something is to understand it!” she rubs the back of her neck again, “Though she didn’t want me to come here. Shoot, she’ll probably be really mad at me.”

She thinks she sees the beast smirk a little, but it vanishes quickly.

“Your teacher sounds like a wise person. You should listen to her more often.”

“I do, but...” Akko pouts in frustration, “I’m always doing everything wrong. She tries so hard to make me a good witch, but I mess everything up. I want to be a good student.”

The beast stares knowingly at her, something like sympathy shining behind its blue eyes.

“Is that why you wanted the books?”

“I... yeah.”

Her host waits for a moment before responding:

“Well, I can’t do anything about the secret, super-powerful spell books you’ve been promised, you will not find such things here. But we do have a variety of books on magic. You may take a look at them in the library before leaving if you wish.”

“You’d let me read them? Wow, thanks!” Akko’s pretty sure her smile can’t get any bigger – maybe her trip isn’t wasted after all if she can get some magical knowledge in this place.

“I’ll just have to ask you to refrain from exploring the castle on your own,” it says, its tone more serious, “it is a pretty big place and, considering your sense of direction, you’d get lost easily.”

Akko nods, trying not to be offended at the offhanded comment about her sense of direction. She suddenly remembers a detail.

“Oh! I never got your name!”

The beast hesitates before replying.

“Diana.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Akko thinks sneaking into the one forbidden area in the castle is a good idea.

Akko’s hopes of getting more answers during dinner are squashed when they arrive at the dining room.

A tall, strict-looking woman is arranging the dishes in the cupboard when the beast – _Diana_ – walks into the room, Akko in tow, and informs her she will be staying in the castle tonight. She then politely asks the woman to please get her something to eat and escort her to her room when she’s done.

The woman looks only slightly annoyed, but does as she’s asked and soon enough Akko is in the room alone with her after Diana excuses herself out. This must be Anna, Akko figures.

 _‘Does she really live here all alone with this lady?’_ Akko can’t help but wonder, _‘Just what is she anyway?’_

Anna doesn’t even try to disguise the fact that she’s watching Akko like a hawk. She tries not to pay attention to her scrutinizing gaze as he eats, but the way the woman stares as if expecting her to steal something is making Akko uncomfortable. She thinks of making small talk, but Anna looks even less talkative than Diana, and the idea is soon discarded.

She eats in silence, and Anna immediately picks up the dishes when she’s finished, quickly, taking them to the kitchen to thoroughly wash them. Soon enough she’s back in the dining room, motioning for Akko to follow her:

“Please follow me, miss.”

Akko gets up, feeling more awkward than she ever has her entire life; despite Anna’s dry and to-the-point behavior, she’s still basically treating Akko like royalty – or at the very least, in a much fancier way Akko’s used to being treated.

She follows Anna back through the corridor and to the entry hall; Diana’s nowhere to be seen. The woman leads Akko to the grand staircase and starts climbing the steps without a word.

They turn right at the top of the stairs, and Anna says more than a sentence for the first time in the night:

“My lady must have told you this already, but please do not walk around the castle alone, and do not go into the west wing. The bathroom is at the end of your corridor should you require to use it.”

 _‘West wing?’_ Akko perks up at the mention, _‘that’s new.’_

Is that why Diana doesn’t want her to roam the castle unattended?

“Um,” Akko finds herself asking before she can think it through, “What’s in the west wing?”

Anna looks thoroughly unpleased with the question.

“That is for my Lady to tell you. You shouldn’t bother her about this, however. She dislikes speaking of it. Please stay out of the west wing either way.”

Deciding not to abuse Diana’s hospitality, Akko pushes the matter aside, at least for now. Maybe she can take a peek at the west wing before leaving tomorrow.

Or later tonight when the beast won’t be watching her.

***

Sucy and Lotte are sitting on a couple of rocks, Lotte affectionately watching the pink-haired girl pick mushrooms. It’s night already, and the moon is illuminating them. They’re so engrossed in conversation they fail to notice Chariot DuNord approaching, hurriedly.

“Girls, have you seen Akko?”

Chariot’s voice startles Lotte, but Sucy only turns around to look at the professor, totally unfazed, and shrugs.

“We thought she was with you. She said she was gonna take the rest of the day off to study.”

Chariot shakes her head.

“No, I haven’t seen her since lunch. She looked excited about something.”

“She’s not with professor Croix?” Lotte asks, starting to get worried.

“She hasn’t seen her either. She went to ask Amanda.”

Sucy and Lotte exchange a knowing glance.

“Well, she might have went to look for the castle” Sucy suggests, and Chariot furrows her brows.

“Castle?” she asks, “What castle?”

Lotte picks her next words carefully.

“Amanda mentioned something about an abandoned castle in the middle of the forest this morning. She heard it has a library full of spell books that were presumably lost” Lotte exchanges another glance with Sucy before continuing, “She might have made it up, but she sounded really confident. I think she’s thinking of looking for it herself, but Akko might have beaten her to it.”

“You’re saying Akko entered the forest in the middle of the night alone?” panic starts to seep through Chariot’s every word, and they don’t fail to notice. Sucy’s tone becomes a little less nonchalant.

“I mean, to be honest, that’s a very Akko thing to do, but we don’t know yet. It’s a possibility” she puts the mushrooms into a pouch attached to her belt and starts walking towards her, “Come on, we’ll go help look for her. Lotte, can you see if you can find Hannah and Barbara and ask them if they’ve seen her? I’ll go look for Constanze and Jasminka. This’ll be easier if we split up.”

Lotte only nods before practically running off in the opposite direction.

Chariot sighs and looks up at the moon.

“Akko, what have you gotten yourself into this time?”

For her pupil’s sake, nothing serious, she hopes.

***

Sneaking out of her room is surprisingly easy.

Akko is very aware of the fact that she should not be doing this; Diana welcomed her into her house and fed her, and all she had asked in return was for her to not wander around the castle alone.

Still, her curiosity gets the better of her once again.

As she walks as silently as possible down the corridor to the west wing, she fails to suppress a shiver. The castle is much scarier at night, in the dark and dead silence. She’s fairly sure that if she dropped a penny on the stone floor right now it would clank as loudly as one of the decorative suits of armor.

When she gets to the end of the corridor, she’s greeted by a large pair of oak doors. She doesn’t fail to notice this area of the castle looks less well-kept than the rest. As if no one ever came in here.

She breathes deeply. _‘Here goes nothing.’_

Against her better judgement, she carefully turns the handle and pushes open the door.

The dust immediately fills her nose and the smell of abandonment is almost overhwelming. She suppresses the urge to sneeze and squints her eyes to try to see in the dimly-lit room, the only illumination coming from the moonlight shining through the open balcony doors and a strange, small red glow in the far end of the room.

She presses on, her eyes adjusting to the dark. This room is a complete contrast of the rest of the place; broken furniture everywhere, all of it covered in a thick layer of dust. The tapestries, paintings and curtains are ripped apart by big claw marks, and a particular one gets Akko’s attention. She walks closer to get a better look at it.

It seems to depict a blonde woman, possibly in her mid-thirties or fourties, in a fancy aqua dress, her hair tied into a knot. To both her sides are two shorter girls, both also blonde, who look remarkably like her. _‘Is this Diana? Or one of the girls?’_

Akko can’t tell, because the angry gashes ripping the canvas in the middle make it hard for her to see. Looks like Diana (?) was angry at this painting, for whatever reason. She decides to leave that speculation for later and walks further into the room, the red glow begging to be investigated.

As she carefully steps closer, a red rose sitting on top of a round table comes into view. _‘So that’s the source of the glow.’_ It is encased in a glass dome, gently floating inside it. Surrounding it are a number of fallen red petals. _‘Magical in nature, perhaps?’_ No doubt, Akko concludes. But magical or not, this rose looks like it’s dying. The sight makes her sad for some reason.

She carefully lifts the glass dome encasing the flower and sets it aside. As she contemplates touching it, she’s snapped out of her trance by a pair of large, clawed hands violently slamming the dome back in its place and pulling the rose away from her.

“You seem to have an awful habit of sneaking into places you’re not invited to.”

Akko raises her head at the gruff voice and as her eyes settle on the beast’s annoyed – no, _angry_ – face, she remembers all the ruined furniture, shattered into pieces, all around her, and she knows this isn’t going to be fun at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Akko runs into the forest in the middle of the night - again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hadn't planned to post three chapters in a single day, but I was inspired and decided not to waste the opportunity since this doesn't happen very often. I'll try to keep a more regular schedule from now on.

Her instincts scream at her to run.

She doesn’t want to end up like the table pieces scattered around the floor, or the painting torn into two. There’s no mistake: for all her previous politeness, Diana is still perfectly capable of doing the same to her, and appears angry enough to want to.

Still, she doesn’t move. All she can do is stay frozen in place, staring at the beast, who is still clutching the domed rose against her chest, as if afraid Akko might reach out and pry it from her hands.

Akko has absolutely no intention of doing such a thing.

As she struggles to think of an escape plan, seriously considering jumping from the balcony behind her, Diana growls:

“I thought I made myself perfectly clear when I told you not to wander the castle alone.”

Akko speaks before she can think, and unfortunately her mouth decides to let out the poorest excuse possible:

“I was looking for the bathroom.”

She mentally facepalms when Diana seems to get even angrier than before, her voice louder:

“And now you’re lying to me. Anna told you where the bathroom is, and she also told you this is the one place you’re supposed to avoid.”

Akko feels herself starting to panic, but instead of attacking her, Diana sighs and lowers her head, directing her ice-cold gaze at the rose in her hands.

“You walk into my house like you own the place, I let you spend the night and have dinner, and all I ask in return is for you to not pry. Not only do you disregard that simple request, you decide to do so by breaking into the one place I absolutely do not want you in.”

The beast’s voice is not as loud now, and more annoyed than angry, but there’s still an icy edge to it that makes Akko fear for her safety.

“Not content in doing only that, you also try to steal something very valuable to me; another thing I explicitly told you not to do.”

Diana silently, slowly slides the rose back to its original place on the table and turns back to look at Akko again, accusingly. Akko feels compelled to defend herself.

“Hey, I wasn’t gonna steal it” she protests, slightly annoyed at the assumption – though she knows fully well that’s probably exactly what it looked like, “I just wanted to take a look at it.”

“And that somehow makes things better?” Diana snaps at her, voice getting louder once more, and Akko flinches, “You’re not even supposed to _be_ here!”

A sudden, loud noise echoes across the room and Akko looks at its source to find Diana is squeezing the table so hard there’s now a crack across a considerable portion of its edge, along with angry scratch marks as the beast digs her claws into it. Diana looks just as startled and surprised as her as she looks down and quickly lets the table go, but Akko doesn’t let that sink in.

For the first time, she is actually afraid of Diana. For the first time, she fully comprehends what she can do to her if she gets angry enough. This isn’t like Hannah and Barbara’s teasing; her life is in actual danger this time.

So Akko’s instincts finally speak louder than her mind and she bolts out of the room, not trying to look back. She doesn’t know if Diana is following her, and doesn’t care to listen to know.

She doesn’t care about the fact that she doesn’t know how to navigate the forest, doesn’t care that it’s freezing out and too dark to see, doesn’t care there might be dangerous animals out there, and she definitely doesn’t care that she’ll probably get lost in the forest before she can find her way home.

She doesn’t care about anything because she cannot think rationally. So she just runs down the flight of stairs and stumbles as she reaches the castle doors, getting out as fast as she can, the snow making her stumble several times more along the way.

She gets lost as soon as she can’t see the castle gates behind her anymore.

***

She doesn’t know how long it’s been since she left the castle – probably not long, though it feels like hours – but she doesn’t make it very far before she hears the howls.

_‘Wolves.’_

She tries to run faster, but the snow stops her from doing so. She hears the sound of paws getting ever closer, and pulls out her wand, internally cursing herself for ever listening to Amanda instead of Chariot and for not thinking things through.

She waits, defensive stance, as the wolves start to circle her, teeth bared. She doesn’t have many defensive spells, and knows she’s done for when one of them jumps in her direction, intent on pouncing her.

She braces herself when the sound of larger, heavier paws is heard and the wolf is tackled out of the way, a gigantic, yellow-coated beast attacking it furiously.

_‘Diana?!’_

Akko tries not to consider the fact that she followed her way faster than she was expecting. But at the very least, she’s attacking the wolves and not her.

She’s attacking the wolves.

Is she protecting Akko?

If so, it seems to be working, because the wolves seem to forget about Akko entirely and turn to focus on Diana instead, who’s throwing the wolf she tackled at two others like it weighs nothing, the three of them whining as they collide violently against each other.

Once again Akko is reminded of Diana’s destructive potential and she's thankful the beast never directed it at her in the short time she’s spent at the castle.

Before the scene can sink in, Diana jumps in front of Akko, growling menacingly, shielding her from the wolves.

The animals don’t give up; one of them tries to jump at Diana from the left and she turns just in time to catch it by the neck, but two more jump on her from the right and bite down on her back. That apparently only succeeds in making her angrier, and she smashes her back against a nearby rock, crushing the wolves against it. However, Akko’s pretty sure she sees blood.

She finally manages to turn her eyes away from the scene and hugs her knees, trying to drown out the sounds of fighting. It’s only when she hears the wolves all whine and run away that she dares look up.

Diana’s still standing, but now that she’s still, Akko can see the cuts and bites all over her body. The beast’s panting almost painfully, and she turns around to look at Akko for a split second before collapsing in the snow. The girl gets up fast, startled.

Akko briefly considers running away and leaving Diana there, but quickly pushes the thought aside. She can’t just leave her like this after she saved her life, and she wouldn’t find the way back on her own anyway. She might even run into the wolves again (or somehing worse,) and this time Diana won’t be there to protect her.

So she mutters an incantation for a levitation spell, making the beast’s unconscious form float gently, and starts following the pawprints back to the castle, Diana in tow.

***

She manages to lay Diana on the bed with the help of Anna, who seems deeply bothered by Akko’s actions – it was her fault Diana had gotten hurt after all – but doesn’t say anything except for “thank you for bringing her back here.”

Akko helps Anna clean the beast’s wounds – it’s the least she can do – and Diana growls unconsciously when they apply the medicine. Akko helps with a couple of healing spells to make it heal faster, and they bandage them.

Akko’s no doctor, but Anna says Diana will be fine, and Akko believes her; the beast’s face is more relaxed now, and she looks more peaceful. Anna has been taking care of her for who knows how many years, so Akko has no reason to distrust her judgement.

Anna eventually leaves to sleep some more when Akko says she wants to keep an eye on Diana, asking the girl to “immediately” go get her when Diana wakes up. Akko nods, sinking further into the comfortable chair.

She’s almost falling asleep when Diana, lying on her back, tries to sit up before wincing and clutching her bandaged side, falling back down. Akko is at her side immediately, touching her shoulder in a reassuring manner.

“Woah, easy there,” Akko says in what she hopes is a calming voice, and Diana’s eyes look almost relieved when they turn to her, “you got hurt pretty badly back there,” Akko removes her hand and attempts to walk toward the door, “I’m gonna go get Anna, she asked me to wake her up when you awoke.”

Before she can take a step, a hand several times bigger than hers wraps around her wrist surprisingly gently and she stops.

“No, let her sleep,” Diana says, voice a little more hoarse than usual, “she already does so much for me. She deserves to rest.”

“Okay,” Akko says, a little surprised by Diana’s tenderness, and sits back down on the chair, “I can keep you company then!”

Diana scoffs, but not in a mean manner; it sounds less harsh than her previous tone. She’s silent for a couple of seconds before muttering, almost apologetically, “I... thank you for not abandoning me in the forest.”

Akko blinks a couple times at the words.

“Yeah, well, thank _you_ for not letting me become wolf food, so I guess we’re even,” she replies, grinning cheerfully, but Diana doesn’t respond immediately.

The beast is looking into the lit fireplace, her gaze distant, when she speaks up in a less energetic tone than normal:

“Why did you run away? You know the forest is dangerous at night.”

Akko finds herself unable to lie.

“I... was scared,” Diana seems to flinch a little at that, and Akko can’t help feeling guilty, “When you broke that table. I saw the rest of the furniture in the room, and, well. I wasn’t really thinking.”

Diana hesitates before sighing deeply.

“Of course,” she says, “I forget I’m this strong ever since...” she cuts herself off as if whatever she was gonna say next physically hurts to think about, and seems to change the words, “I apologize. It wasn’t my intention to break that table and much less to scare you. Rest assured, I would never hurt you, even if you were not supposed to be in the west wing.”

The words bring Akko a strange comfort.

“And even when you thought I was going to, you still brought me back and tended to me?” The beast's voice is strangely vulnerable.

“Well, I couldn’t just leave you there after all you’ve done for me!” Akko says, exasperated, “Especially since I’m... the one who screwed up. I’m sorry for going into the west wing.”

Diana's  _definitely_ smirking now.

“Apology accepted. As long as you don’t do it again,” she looks at the ceiling longingly, “I suppose you have questions. I am sorry, but I’m afraid I cannot bring myself to answer them. The subject matter is painful for me, and I barely know you.”

Akko looks at the floor before daring greatly:

“Well, then... you could get to know me.”

Diana looks at her in confusion.

“Hear me out: you could let me stay for a couple more days – I won’t cause any more trouble, I promise, and I’ll help Anna with the chores – and if I manage to befriend you, and you get comfortable enough around me, you tell me all about the rose and the painting and the west wing. So you won't have to be so alone at least for a while.

Of course, if you don’t want me around anymore, I’ll go. Just say the word. I understand, after what I did.”

Diana only stares at her for what feels like five whole minutes – but which Akko knows to not be more than a couple of seconds – before smirking slightly.

“I should kick you out after all the trouble you caused me, but somehow I can see you have no ill intent towards me,” she sighs, “And poor Anna does need some help with the chores. With only the two of us to tidy this place up, it gets overwhelming very quickly.”

She considers it for a while more.

“Very well. You may stay here for as long as you wish, so long as you don’t cause me any more problems. If you do, I’ll be forced to see you out. If you do manage to grow on me, I’ll give you the answers you want. And while you stay here, I can teach you some spells,” Akko’s eyes widen at that, “Surprised? I have quite a considerable amount of magical knowledge which I’ll be more than happy to share with you if you stop sneaking around behind my back. What do you say? Do you wish to learn?”

Akko nods more enthusiastically than she intended to and she’s pretty sure she hears her neck pop, but Diana doesn’t seem to notice; she looks quite pleased.

“You’re a strange girl, Atsuko Kagari.”

Akko is beaming.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Akko starts her work at the beast's castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, remember when I said I'd update once a week?
> 
> *sweats nervously* Hehe, hehe... yeah. I'm so, so sorry about the ridiculous hiatus, guys. It wasn't planned, but I had no idea where to go after the last chapter, and that, combined with just life in general, made me procrastinate and post nothing but unrelated oneshots for other fandoms whenever inspiration for them struck.
> 
> I hope you guys haven't abandoned this, and again, I'm so damn sorry for the wait. I hope you like this chapter, and I promise I'll try to do better and really update more regularly now. I don't know if I'll manage once a week, but at least not a whole year in between chapters. Thanks again for sticking with me!

None of the girls have seen Akko.

Chariot is already panicking by the time she runs into Croix, who also seems frazzled, Sucy, Lotte and Amanda on tow.

“So?” Chariot asks, hoping against hope, but all she gets from Croix is a worried shake of her head.

“No luck. Hannah and Barbara said they’ve seen her this morning, but not after.”

“Constanze and Jasminka haven’t seen her either,” Chariot runs a hand through her head, breathing rapidly, “Do you think she went into the forest, Amanda?”

“I’m not sure, but she looked like she was dying to go,” in Amanda’s defense, she looks incredibly worried as well, “She should have at least waited for me or something, instead of going alone.”

“Not to mention the beast.”

Sucy’s dry words make everyone pause, and Amanda seems to freeze in place at them.

“Beast?” Chariot repeats, holding her hands together, borderline desperate, “What do you mean? What beast?”

“Amanda said-“

“It’s just a rumor!” Amanda cuts Sucy off, raising her hands in front of her, “Some hunters were saying they caught a glimpse of a monster in the forest, near the castle, some years ago, while looking for game. I just mentioned it because I wanted to scare her! I don’t even know if there’s a castle at all!”

“Well, what if it’s true, Amanda? Akko could be...”

Croix places a hand on Chariot’s shoulder just as she looks like she might faint.

“Calm down, Chariot,” she says, trying to tranquilize her wife, “We don’t know if she’s in the forest yet. She could have gone somewhere else.”

“But no one’s seen her...”

“None of her friends have seen her,” Croix corrects her, “We haven’t asked around the village yet, though. We should do that before jumping to conclusions. If they say they haven’t seen her, we can look in the forest.”

“You’re right...,” Chariot sighs, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples, “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m just... so worried about her.”

“We’ll find her, Chariot,” Croix rubs her shoulder again, “I promise.”

The girls all nod to that, but Chariot can’t stop worrying despite that.

***

The next day goes by uneventfully.

Akko makes sure to stay in her room during the night this time, and at day, she helps Anna with some of the chores. When Anna says she can handle the rest herself, though, she asks Akko to help Diana with the garden.

The girl finds her kneeling next to some tulips, tending to them, and in the daylight Akko can see what she couldn’t in the darkness of the night; the castle’s front garden is beautifully ornate, filled with a large variety of plants, especially flowers.

She also doesn’t fail to notice there’s not a single rose in it.

Her mind immediately goes to the rose in the West Wing and she briefly wonders if these two things are related before forcing herself to stop thinking about it; her curiosity had already put her in trouble last night, and she’s decided not to be ungrateful to Diana and Anna anymore, so she just walks over to the beast, somewhat hesitantly.

“Um, hi!” Akko finds herself announcing her presence with the very same words she had said to Diana last night, and the latter turns around to face her, “Anna said she’s almost done with the chores and that you could probably use some help out here, so, well, here I am!”

“Thank you,” Diana smiles, calmly, “Could you please water the plants over on that side?”

Akko nods enthusiastically and walks over to the direction Diana had pointed at with her head. She decides to use a simple water spell to make it go faster. She suddenly notices that despite Diana having said she’s familiar with magic, Akko hasn’t seen her use a single spell so far, not even against the wolves.

“Hey, so,” She speaks up, turning around to face Diana, “sorry for asking, but wouldn’t it be faster if you used some spells?”

Diana’s face suddenly falls, and she’s washed over by an aura of sadness.

“I can’t,” She replies, in a cautious, measured tone, “Not since... well, since... becoming this. It’s stripped me of my magic.”

“...oh,” Is all Akko can reply, instantly feeling horrible for her; not only for having lost her magic, but also for how obviously the fact has broken her, judging by her tone of voice and reaction, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Why?” Diana says, somewhat condescendingly, though Akko somehow knows it’s not directed at her, “It’s not _your_ fault. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Still, from what I’ve gotten to know of you, I’m sure you don’t deserve that.”

Diana is silent for a second before sighing tiredly.

“Yes, well, unfortunately all I’m good for now is breaking things and hurting people, it seems.”

“That’s not true at all!” Akko protests, now somewhat surprised at hearing such a nice person speak of herself like that, “You help Anna keep the house tidy and pretty, and you’re being so careful with these flowers! If all you were good for was breaking things, the garden wouldn’t look this nice! And even your strength can be good, you saved me last night, haven’t you? So please don’t speak of yourself like that!”

Diana is silent again, now clearly surprised.

“Well, this garden is my only pride and joy these days,” she admits eventually, “And the library as well, I suppose. I’ve gotten somewhat tired of it now, though. I’ve read all of those books countless times now.”

Akko tilts her head.

“Just how many books do you have, anyway?”

Diana smiles cryptically.

“I guess you’ll find out, won’t you?” She then gets up, “Thank you for the help, ms. Kagari. We’re done here, and it’s starting to get dark. It’s best if we retire for the day.”

Akko nods, then thinks for a second.

“Hey, can I ask a favor of you?”

Diana raises a brow.

“Ask away.”

“Call me Akko.”

Diana smiles at her once again, this time a little more brightly.

Akko thinks she may get the beast to warm up to her, after all.


End file.
